There were thirty boys and
Several singular cases have

the Church and herself a Khond, acted as interpreter for the girls, and devoted much of her time to their welfare. thirty girls in the Berhampore school. occurred from time to time in which new comers have been recognised as the brothers or sisters of children already in the schools. Ikedi, the girl just mentioned, found her own brother. A lad named Philip, at the same time found his younger brother. Mr. Bailey says:

"On the day these children arrived, the Khond boys who had been with us some time ran with great glee to see them; and as they were placed in the front of my house in a line that their names might be called over, the name of Dasia was at length mentioned. Philip, one of the elder boys, immediately exclaimed with surprise, 'Dasia! Dasia! why that is my little brother;' and he at once ran and fell upon his neck and embraced him. But I said, 'Philip, how do you know that he is your brother?' 'O,' he replied, 'I am sure Dasia is my brother: I remember his name, and the day on which he was sold; but now I see him again.' Many cases of a similar character have occurred before, in the reception of Meria children into these Asylums."

Of the children thus introduced into these excellent schools, many have profited greatly by their studies. Many have been settled in the christian villages; and have exhibited a character and life illustrating even the temporal benefits of religious and moral education which they enjoyed. And not a few both male and female have been truly converted, and have adorned the gospel of Christ their Saviour. Muster, one of the pious Khonds, was employed by Capt. Frye for assisting his studies in the Khond language.

It is a triumphant testimony to the Gospel, to see a humane and christian Government employing its officers, its influence and financial resources, to draw barbarous tribes from dreadful rites and crimes; and save the lives of helpless children devoted to sacrifice. It is a still further testimony to it, to see the Christian Church adopt these rescued ones, foster them, instruct them, and pray for them. It is a higher testimony still, to see the Lord of Glory himself look with compassion on these souls for which he died, changing them by his grace and fitting them for glory. To him be all the glory of all the good done among sinful men! Amen.

LECTURE SIXTH.

ON THE RELIGIOUS CLAIMS OF THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY.

In the previous lectures we have seen that the Presidency of Madras naturally divides itself into distinct districts, on its east and west sea coasts, with the high plateau of Mysore between them; how these districts are to a great extent occupied by different nations; and how the missions carried on among them fall into natural groups, determined by their geographical position and the different languages spoken therein. We have rapidly reviewed the TELUGU Missions on the upper coast of the Bay of Bengal, the CANARESE Missions in the district above the ghauts : and the GERMAN Missions in the provinces of Canara and Malabar. We then turned to the TAMUL Missions in Madras, Tanjore and Madura ; briefly investigated their lengthened history, examined the decay of the early Tranquebar Mission and its offshoots, and traced out the causes of the strong CASTE prejudices which have prevailed so extensively in the Tamil churches. We next passed to the southern extremity of India, inhabited by the tribe of SHANARS, and considered the progress and results of missionary operations among them in Tinnevelly and Travancore. The last Protestant Mission examined, was that established among the ancient SYRIAN Churches of North Travancore; wherein we noticed the plan which was originally aimed at of reviving the Syrian body under their former regime, its failure, and the separation of the Church Missionary converts from that system, in order to form them into a branch of the Church of England. In contrast to these proceedings of evangelical churches, we surveyed the past and present efforts of the JESUIT missionaries, under the most extraordinary phases: and found that though their converts are declared to be 650,000 in number, they are not to be compared to the 100,000 Protestant natives of India in christian knowledge, education and religious character: that only in name have they

become christian, while in the ordinary practices of life, they are as much heathen as before.

The Telugu and Mysore missions are comparatively limited; and their fruits appear only to be small: they each contain about 700 native christians: the German missions number 1400. The Tamil churches are much larger, the native christians amounting to 17,000. The Shánar converts number 52,000: those among the Syrian churches, 4000. The total number of native Protestant christians in the Presidency is above 76,000, of whom 10,600 are communicants. The missionaries in charge of these churches are 179 in number, with 405 catechists. About 30,000 boys are instructed in their schools: and 8,000 girls. These results looked at by themselves are truly gratifying, to all who can appreciate the grand difference between the prospects of a heathen soul and the soul of a true christian beyond the grave. They shew the present agencies and present position of the mission churches: and prove that the labours expended for their benefit have not been carried on in vain. We must add to them the converted souls that have passed into the heavens, of whose death, on many occasions, missionaries have spoken with hearty satisfaction. Nor is this all. We know that the object of all our missionary agencies is to bring men into the body of communicants, and to keep them there, worthily performing their duty to the Saviour so long as life lasts. But as time is required before these agencies accomplish their ends completely, we must remember, as part of our missionary results, all the intermediate steps that have been secured between the starting of the agency and the reaping of its fruits. We will look not only to the harvest reaped, to the harvest ripe: we will look also to the green standing corn, to the blade, to the ear, and even to the seed that lies hidden in the soil. We must look for results accomplished, not only to our church members, dead and living: but to the knowledge spread, the copies of the word distributed, to the schools where the young have been early impressed, to the diminished offerings to idols, to the decay of belief in idolatry, to the extensive conviction that its cause will fail, to the belief that christianity will conquer: to the diminution of dispute and argument against the gospel, and to the silence, sometimes the readiness, with which its truths are heard. If we do less, we do injustice.

But much as we seem to have accomplished, how much still remains. Contrast the scattered bands of christians with the dense masses of heathenism in which they live; the agencies employed, with the sphere

to which they are applied; and we shall at once exclaim, what are these among so many ! So great is the difference between the two parties, the one so swallows up and bides the other, that we cannot wonder at the objection which is sometimes brought against our statements; "Where are the converts-we never see or hear of them: nor do we expect we shall; look at the strength of bráhmanism, of idolatry and of caste; how can you ever set them aside and root them out of the country : what do these feeble Jews?" It is good therefore to look the difficulties of the work of the Lord fairly in the face, and see how much the church has yet to do before its labour is accomplished. The following considerations may help us to appreciate them.

EXTENT OF COUNTRY AND POPULATION.

The Presidency of Madras is of triangular shape; its greatest length from Cape Comorin to Goa is 530 miles, and its greatest breadth from Goa to Ganjam is nearly 790 miles. It contains therefore more than 200,000 square miles in all. It contains countries which for hundreds of years constituted independent kingdoms. That portion which is now in subjection to the Honorable East India Company is divided into twenty districts or provinces; and to these must be added the Mysore country and the independent kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin. The total Revenue drawn annually from these extensive and fertile provinces amounts to nearly six millions of pounds sterling, which is shewn as follows:

Besides the produce consumed where it is grown, the trade from one portion of the country to another is, even under its present disadvantages, most extensive. In spite of bad trunk roads, in spite of cross-roads ten times worse, the Government Engineer recently reported, that after careful consideration he had found that the annual traffic into and out of Madras on the western roads alone, amounted to 50,000 tons of goods, of

the value of one million and a quarter sterling. Not less trade is carried on through the southern districts and those on the west coast. Indeed few branches of enquiry, give a higher idea of the value of these provinces of India than the consideration of the surplus produce which they export.

Look again at the immense POPULATION which this one division of our Indian empire contains:

These twenty-seven millions form a number about equal to that of all the inhabitants of the British Isles put together. Yet how different are their circumstances from those of our countrymen. They may have the means of sustaining life, but possess in general little beyond it. They are civilized to a considerable extent, but their knowledge of things beyond their own immediate sphere is very limited; and education, worth the name, is at the lowest ebb. Above all as following error in religion it becomes us to look at them with Christian eyes and to enquire what provision has been made for their full and faithful instruction in the way of truth. Of the whole number, twenty-four millions are Hindus: more than two millions are Muhammedans: the Catholics number 650,000: the Syrian Christians, 120,000: the Jews, 1600 at Cochin: while our native Protestant Christians amount only to 76,000.

Look again at the different divisions of the population, and you will see how little has been accomplished in the thorough spread of gospel truth among them. The TELUGU people below the ghauts are divided into seven districts; and amount to 6,650,000 people. Their territory, as we have seen contains nineteen missionaries and of the six millions and a half, 700 are Christians. Nor are matters improved by looking at the labours of the different Societies that have entered the country. The London Missionary Society, the first in the field, has taken up the districts of Vizagapatam and Cuddapah; but though they contain a population of 2,706,000 souls, the Society employs among them only five European missionaries. The Church Missionary Society has taken up Masulipatam with 520,000; and employs four missionaries. The Ame